A Peaceful Day
by C D Henry
Summary: Guiding Light Universe Oneshot. Read AN first. Minato notices that Mitsuru is being overworked, as such he makes plans to remedy the situation and also to make a wish she made come true.


A Peaceful Day

A Persona 3 AU Fanfiction

By Chris D Henry

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Summary: Mitsuru had stated to him that sometime in the future she'd like to be the one riding on the back of the motorcycle

Author's Notes: Blame this on wordsworthy. I was busy writing chapter 9 of _'Guiding Light'_ when my RSS feeds updated and I noticed that he'd posted chapter 22. Now please note _'Fate Rewritten'_ is brilliant and no matter where it goes (unless he jumps the shark) I'll be reading it and enjoying it. However I couldn't help feeling a touch bittersweet about the fact that Minato and Mitsuru were not to be.

Aw well, that's life.

However when I returned to work on chapter 9 I found myself in a bit of a quandary as my mood no longer matched what I needed for the events happening. As such to cheer myself up (and anyone else who needs it) I decided to try my hand at a bit of fluff, something that I'm not used to while also trying to avoid any major spoilers, so please be gentle.

As you can tell this is based in the same universe as _'Guiding Light'_, however it is based during February 2010 and as such there isn't much in the way of spoilers to be had apart from the events during P3 FES. As such nearly everyone except Minato has no recollection of the Dark Hour, the shadows or what happened on January the 31st. Although there will be a few minor Social Link mod spoilers (mostly added text for Minato), but even that isn't major.

I may bound this over to Vocarin for editing, but as it will never be in _'Guiding Light'_ I may decide to give my fantastic editor a break. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: The plot, characters and location of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 is copyright of Atlus Co. This piece of fan-fiction has been written for entertainment purposes and no infringement is intended. The alteration to the original Persona 3 contract was suggested by Darkforce222 (and as it was so much more elegant than mine I decided to stick with it).

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_Friday, 26th of February 2010. 17:13_

"W-Well." Fushimi Chihiro found herself in the unusual situation of having to start the current meeting of the Student Council. "Let's get started; does anyone know where Mitsuru-sempai is?"

"I'm afraid not." Odagiri Hidetoshi replied as he took a seat. "I know the Vice-President is away for the week for an interview with a university in America, but I've not heard anything from Mitsuru-sempai. If I was to have a guess, I'd say that she'd probably busy preparing for her valedictorian speech for the year."

"I hope she's well..." The treasurer stated as she looked down at her hands, why had it fallen to her to run the council in the absence of the President and the Vice-President? With Odagiri-sempai would have jumped at the chance before the cigarette issue, but now he was fine with sitting back and allowing the others to have a chance. Although she had gotten better at dealing with crowds, the nervousness would never go away.

'_Don't worry about being nervous, that's natural. Just don't let it it dictate how you run your life, if you do you'll have regrets and trust me the fewer regrets you have the better off you'll be.'_

Minato-san.

"What about you Arisato-kun? You live in the same dorm with her." One of the other members asked.

Only to be met with silence as the group finally noticed that the usually quiet male member of the council, a man who had been handpicked by the President herself, was also missing. "Thinking about it does anyone know where Minato-san is?"

Most of the students shook their heads, a few members who were in 2-F stated that the teen had been in class today but he could have decided to go and spar with the Kendo Team instead of coming to the meeting, which the treasurer thought would be fair enough. Minato-san was involved in so many activities and clubs that he couldn't be expected to do everything all the time.

"W-Well then let's move onto other matters." Chihiro moved it on; after all the sooner this was done the sooner they could go home. "Does anyone have anything they wish to bring up?"

There were a few moments of silence.

"A-Alright." Chihiro finally spoke up, more to end what she considered to be an unbearable silence than any other reason.

"Chihiro-san." The treasurer turned to look at one of the other male members of the council, she was ashamed to admit that she didn't know the man's name. "Without the President here and since Arisato-san isn't available to fill her in, maybe we should just call it a day and leave it at that."

"Umm..." The treasurer looked uncertain and turned to the supervisor of the disciplinary committee for some sort of guidance.

"Well I guess we can't help it." Odagiri-san stated saving the younger student. "We haven't got much left to handle for the year so as long as we can all turn up next Monday and Wednesday she could be fine."

"Alright then this meeting is a..." The treasurer never got a chance to finish.

"Sorry I'm late." All eyes turned to look at the blue-haired teenager, who happened to be leaning against the doorsill. Chihiro watched as the teen delicately removed the custom pair of headphones that he had been wearing instead of his previous ones for the last few months and placed them on his blazer. "I had to make a quick detour down to the gym to make sure all my Kendo equipment was logged in since there won't be another practice 'till next year."

"It's alright Arisato-san." The same student who had told her to break up the meeting spoke up. "Chihiro-san was just about to finish off the meeting."

The teen turned to look at the treasurer. "You didn't end it did you?" After taking in her reaction the blue-haired junior let out a small sigh of relief. "Thank whatever's out there for that, otherwise I'd be facing an execution for sure."

Chihiro felt the others start to squirm; this didn't bode well for an early exit.

"Mitsuru-sempai sends her apologies for not being able to attend the meeting today." The teen started. "Unfortunately she has been called away, straight after school for a... personal matter."

Obviously the President must be dealing with some form of family matter; it was to be expected from the heiress of the Kirijo Group.

"Since she knew she wouldn't be coming she gave me a list of issues that we need to look at." The teen started to riffle around in his pockets obviously looking for something. "Ah, here we go." With that statement of success the Council's problem solver pulled out a roll of paper from his inside pocket and let one end loose.

That then hit the floor.

The group looked on in shock as the blue-haired teen started to read though the list. "That can wait for next year, so can that and that, and that." The teen started to mutter as she worked down the list. "That's been taken care of, she's told me not to involve myself in the persimmon tree issue, that's redundant..." After a few more moments the teen finally ripped off the last section of the list and chucked the top part into the waste paper basket. "Okay here's the only things we need to worry about." He stated as he placed the remaining list on the table.

"Reports?" Hidetoshi asked as he looked at the scrap of paper.

"Mitsuru-sempai wants a group of reports done that she can bring to the principle to show him how much work the council has done this year." Minato explained. "You don't really need to waste your time doing it here. Just make sure it's completed before next Monday, that way we can all leave this room with our lives intact."

A shiver ran though the group, although Chihiro hadn't even been at Gekkoukan for a year yet, even she had heard about the heiress' execution techniques. It was something spoken about it hushed whispers with a look of fear.

"A-Alright." Chihiro stated, even though Minato-san was here she was still in charge of this meeting. "E-Everyone is free to go."

She watched the blue-haired teen as he monitored the quick exodus of the council room, with only Odagiri-san stopping for a moment to have a word with the junior. When she saw him like this it was no wonder that she had developed that crush on him, after all this was the man who had helped her overcome her fears and showed her that you didn't have to be fearless in order to show confidence...

"Chihiro-san." The voice of the subject of her thoughts pulled her from her musings.

"O-Oh, sorry Minato-san." She could feel her cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

"No worries." The teen waved her apology off. "I just wanted to tell you that you handled that brilliantly."

"T-Thank you Minato-san!" The blush only got deeper.

"Anyway I've got to go." He stated as he check his watch. "I'll see you later Chihiro-san." With a small nod of the head he was gone.

"A-Ah good night, Minato-s..." It was then the treasurer stopped suddenly realising something. If he was able to make an assessment on how well she had done then...

He had been watching all along.

--

_Friday, 26th of February 2010. 17:21_

Minato made his way down the street towards the monorail, the events at the student council had taken a bit longer than he had anticipated, although that was more to do with the fact that Yuko was being overly chatty rather than anything the council had done. Even so he was on a tight schedule and keeping her waiting would not go down well. As the teen came up to the next junction, he looked straight ahead, that was the route that would lead to the monorail station and as such it would usually be where the teen would be heading... If he was planning to use the monorail.

Instead the teen turned to the left.

He followed this path for another few moments before he turned down street and then through an alleyway. Once he was through, a genuine smile lit his face as he was greeted with the sight he was hoping for. Resting against her motorcycle, a picnic basket having replaced her scanning equipment and a takeaway bag of Wild Duck Burger in her hand, Kirijo Mitsuru looked up to see the person he had been waiting for enter the area, before she stowed away the bag in one of her satchels.

Arisato Minato didn't lie, however he was inclined to bend the truth a bit. All he had told the council was that Mitsuru was away on personal matters, if they thought that it was due to her family then it was their mistake.

"Minato." The heiress greeted as the teen moved up to his girlfriend, taking the helmet she offered.

"Sorry I'm late." The teen apologised in a way of greeting. "Student Council and the Kendo Team took more time than I expected."

"Don't beat yourself up too much. At least you had the common courtesy to actually turn up." The redhead looked down for a moment before she turned an accusing eye towards the cobalt-haired junior. "Your bad habits are brushing off on me."

"Never." Minato replied. "Everyone needs a break, especially you."

"Well in that case tell me where we are heading and we can head off." The redhead stated as she pulled her helmet from its compartment.

"I can't do that." Minato simply stated. "It's a secret."

"You have been around Mochizuki too much." She said with a worried look on her face. "If I don't know where we are going how are we supposed to get there?"

The teen simply smiled, he wasn't sure if Mitsuru would remember this, after all it had been said in a conversation where fighting the shadows had been brought up.

'_...But, you'll have to sit on the back until you get your license. When we're done fighting, I'll teach you how to operate it, I can't wait until then.'_

He put his hand into the inner right pocket of his blazer and pulled out the key that she had given him to her own motorcycle.

'_...once in a while it would be nice if I could hold onto you...'_

Sometimes the greatest joys came from making someone's wish come true. "You're not driving."

Mitsuru let out a small sigh. "Listen." She started to argue." I know that I said that after January was over I would teach you how to ride this motorcycle and I'm sorry that I forgot... Wait a second... Why did I say...?"

Minato caught the warning lights early, for the past month he'd been used to his friends tripping over events because some of the things involved were covered in the topics that had been removed when the Dark Hour had ceased to exist. While the brain remembered the events it couldn't figure out why there were gaps in the memory.

"You've been busy." Minato assured the worried redhead, taking her hand to draw her attention away from her thoughts. "Luckily being friends with the idiot has some advantages."

The redhead watched as the teen pulled out his wallet and passed her a card, more specifically a motorcycle licence. "Minato..."

If she was going to be difficult it was best to bring out the trump card. "Trust me."

A look of shock appeared on the redhead's face, followed by a look of shame. "Yes... I'm sorry. I do trust you Minato, you know that."

"I know." He quashed his guilt as he expression changed. It was a dirty trick to be honest using such a tactic to get his way, but it was highly effective. "Shall we go then?"

--

_Friday, 26th of February 2010. 17:28_

After Minato had accustomed to her motorcycle, she finally climbed on behind him. Although she was worried, she was also ecstatic. It had been one of her dreams to be able to ride on her motorcycle behind her cobalt-haired boyfriend and now he was making that dream come true. She gripped onto the teen as he started the engine, checked once more that she was okay, before he kicked up the stand and twisted the throttle.

And they were away.

After a few minutes, where she was still tense with worry, she finally was able to relax once she realised that Minato knew what he was doing. He drove her cycle within the speed limit, moving through traffic when he could do. However he was always cautious, not pushing the motorcycle as much as he could, leaving gaps that she would have taken and making sure not to get too close to the other vehicles around them. She realised that he was being careful so that he was protecting her bike and in the process was protecting her as well.

She couldn't shake the feeling of warmth she felt as she held onto the rider a little bit more. Neither of the two were that affectionate, Minato's lack of family had left him with scars that would cause him to protect himself from others even when he didn't want to. She was hiding their relationship from her family in order to protect him from the vipers, if she was affectionate with this man she wasn't sure if could stop and that scared her.

She let those thoughts slip as her boyfriend brought the motorcycle onto the main roads and out of the city. Once clear the teen had no worries about opening the taps and cruising towards their destination.

Mitsuru would later admit that out of all the trips she had made with her motorcycle, all the times she had used it to escape the shackles of her family, even when Minato had been on the back. This was the trip she'd enjoyed the most.

--

_Friday, 26th of February 2010. 19:24_

After the events of the previous year, when Arisato Minato planned something, he tried to leave nothing to chance.

As such when he had notice Mitsuru's stressed condition a few days ago he had decided that something had to be done. After running it through with the idiot and Stupei and having to resist the urge to gut them with Shiva. It was Yukari of all people who brought up the solution.

'_Why don't you just do something romantic like a normal guy?'_

Although Minato knew nothing about how to create a nice romantic evening, he quickly used his knowledge and understanding of the heiress to develop, what he hoped was something close. As such the plan that Junpei had dubbed 'Operation: Get Mitsuru-sempai to chill and maybe get lucky at the same time' was put into place... although he would have to be out of his mind to think that part two would work out as Junpei had stated.

He had scouted out the location before hand; it was a natural lake about a thirty minute drive from mainland Iwatodai. The teen had decided that the best course of action would be to take his girlfriend somewhere calm and peaceful outside of Iwatodai. Where they could have a nice meal and have a decent conversation without hiding anything.

As such he had told her the day before to organise a picnic and that he was planning to go somewhere so it would be wise to bring her motorcycle with her. After the usual palaver involved in the usual cloak and dagger routine, he didn't exactly understand Mitsuru's reasons for keeping this relationship under wraps, but he respected the fact that this was what she wanted until she was ready.

"Thank you." The heiress told her boyfriend as she finished her drink. "This is just what I needed."

"You looked tired." Minato stated as he laid back on the picnic blanket. "I wouldn't be much of a boyfriend if I didn't recognise these situations and act on them."

"I appreciate it." Mitsuru replied as she shuffled closer to the prone teen. "But I'd rather you stayed the person you are, rather than trying to be the ideal boyfriend."

"Oh really?" Minato stated as he felt her lift his head and place it on her lap.

"You give yourself far too little credit." She muttered as she unwittingly started to play with his hair. "Minato..." She paused for a second before she carried on. "The main families of the Kirijo group are meeting in two weeks at a dinner event. I'd like you to come as my escort."

The teen sat up and turned to look at the heiress, this was a change of tact that he hadn't been expecting.

"I know this is a change, but if things carry on the way they are then I want them to get used to your presence." She explained. However it was the next line that caught the blue-haired teen off guard. "If you still wish for a chance of a normal chance, then now is the time for us to stop this."

A normal life? Minato contemplated as he stood up, he was sure that he had never known what that truly was. He wasn't normal; since he had come back to Iwatodai last year he had seen too much, done too much and now he couldn't look away from how things really were in this world.

He turned to the apprehensive redhead behind him and gave her a reassuring smile. "Look at my life Mitsuru. When has it ever been normal?"

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." He retorted.

Her cheeks were flushed as she took his hand in hers. "I can see myself being with you for a long time."

A small smile lit the teen's face, from his wonderful woman that was as close to a declaration of love as he was going to get for now, although he did have to wonder if he was due for an execution once everything came out.

"Yeah, me too." He replied as he turned towards the lake.

His life would never be normal, it was part of who he was, what he had gotten involved with. But it didn't matter, because there would be peaceful days like this and he would endure whatever was thrown at him knowing that in the future there would be more days like this.

That he could share with his friends... and the woman who had come to mean so much more than that.

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Version Changes:

1.00 – Completed with self-checking for errors.

1.01 – Typos fixed and the last line was changed as it wasn't really something that Minato would put that way.

1.02 – More typos fixed and a few changed in the dialogue to fixed a bit of tiredness-induced gibberish.

1.03 – Completed with editing from Vocarin

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End file.
